The Daily Life of a Sand Sculpture

No matter how much Ichiro worried, there was nothing he could do to change the situation; he could only wait patiently. Fortunately, there had been some progress, and through slow, steady grinding, success would eventually come.

"Sigh~" Ichiro sighed again while standing in front of the vanity, and Urahara, who was putting on his clothes, rolled his eyes at the sight.

"What are you sighing about again?"

"I've become even more handsome, what should I do?"

"..." Urahara rolled his eyes and said impatiently, "Hurry up."

"I know, I know. Honestly, you nag every single day, aren't you annoyed?"

Urahara's brow twitched: "Who told you to be so narcissistic every day?"

This was their daily routine before heading to class. If they ever missed this exchange, they would feel quite out of sorts...

To be honest, seeing so many people choose to graduate early, Ichiro felt a bit moved; he really couldn't learn anything more here...

At school, aside from higher-numbered Kido, there was nothing left for Ichiro to learn.

Compared to Kido, Ichiro cared more about the underlying principles and techniques, which was why, despite having mastered so few spells, there were hardly any teachers in the academy who could teach him.

Currently, his only motivation for staying in school was to have more time to research his own projects. While graduating to join a division would certainly allow him to learn more advanced Kido, Ichiro's primary focus right now was Reishi Alchemy. Having linked his past-life alchemy with his two Reishi Pistols, he was making rapid progress and couldn't possibly graduate now to become a corporate slave.

After heading out, the two waited for Yoruichi under the dormitory building as usual, then headed to the classroom together.

"By the way, do you want to go to the base to train this weekend? We haven't been together in a long time," Yoruichi asked, tilting her head toward Ichiro.

"The weekend? Not this week. The Captain is giving a lecture, and I want to attend. It's a rare opportunity."

"Rare? I recall this is the third time this month, right? Four times last month, and we're only halfway through this month—how is that rare..." Urahara muttered to the side.

"Is that so? I hadn't calculated it. I heard it from the seniors in the division; apparently, the Captain used to lecture only once every few years."

"Oh." x 2

"I wonder why this is happening. Why do you think the Captain has been lecturing so frequently lately?"

"Oh." x 2

"Aren't you two curious?"

"Not curious." x 2

"..."

Watching Ichiro look deflated, Urahara and Yoruichi exchanged a glance while suppressing their laughter. Truly, someone else's misery is my happiness; Ichiro never lied to me!

As they joked around, the three arrived at the classroom. Ichiro continued his tireless attempts to hint at Urahara and Yoruichi—no matter what, he had to show off today!!!

"Urahara, have you heard? A genius is skipping grades to join our class. I heard she has already mastered Shikai," Issho said, bouncing over. Her ponytail bobbed with her movements, fully revealing the girl's vitality.

Unfortunately, a girl is a girl after all; with such big movements, only her ponytail was bouncing.

Ichiro sat back in his seat, resting his head against the window, and said casually, "Shikai? Isn't that about the same as Urahara? There really are a lot of geniuses."

"No, strictly speaking, her talent is better than mine. She should have only been enrolled for half a year, and it took me nearly a year to achieve Shikai. Interesting."

"There are more and more geniuses. It feels like it's getting hard to get by. Recently, the frequency of Captain Unohana's lectures has also increased. I wonder why."

'We're doomed!' x 2

Urahara and Yoruichi felt a jolt in their hearts. Sure enough, Issho had successfully followed Ichiro's lead and asked the question.

"Why is that? I heard from my family that it should be very hard to encounter the Captain's lectures, since they have so much to do."

"Sigh~" x 2 Urahara and Yoruichi sighed in unison, covering their foreheads with their right hands.

Ichiro felt a surge of joy inside, but on the surface, he sighed nonchalantly and said, "I don't know either. I heard from the seniors that it used to be once every few years. I don't know why, but since I arrived, they've become quite frequent. Sigh~ why is that?"

"..." Watching Ichiro show off, Issho's mouth twitched. She turned to look at Urahara and Yoruichi, who were sighing with their heads in their hands, and seemed to understand why they were acting that way...

"Heh... hehe, m-maybe it's because..."

Before Issho could finish, Yoruichi immediately pressed her into the seat in front of Ichiro and said, "Class is about to start, hurry up and get ready."

Ichiro curled his lips, put away his casual expression, pulled two notebooks from his desk, and began to seriously calculate various data.

After a while, the teacher for this period walked in with a girl with long, straight black hair. Hanging at her waist was a small, delicate Zanpakuto. It wasn't an Asauchi; clearly, it was a rare, permanently released type of Zanpakuto.

"Come, introduce yourself."

"Rustle~"

The crisp voice he imagined didn't come; instead, there was only a rustling sound. Ichiro looked up in surprise and saw the girl burying her head in a large notebook in her hands, writing something. Ichiro's gaze fell on the Zanpakuto, and he raised an eyebrow.

'Hm? A permanent Shikai Zanpakuto?'

A permanent Shikai Zanpakuto has no release command; the blade is always in a Shikai state. It is an extremely rare type of Zanpakuto.

At this moment, the girl flipped the notebook over, and on it was her self-introduction.

'Hello everyone, my name is Suzuran Yue. Please take care of me.'

"She cannot speak, so please be understanding."

Hearing the teacher's words, Ichiro stared blankly at the bright smile on the girl's face, silently adding a research project to his mental list.

However, at any given time, there are always a few idiots who can't read the room...

"Hahaha~ Since when can a mute become a Soul Reaper? Hahaha... ha... h..."

Under the icy gazes of the crowd, he fell silent, bowing his head with eyes brimming with resentment.

Seeing this, Ichiro frowned. He knew this guy; he had come from the Rukongai just like him, but with a much later serial number. A year had passed, yet he hadn't shed his hoodlum temperament—or perhaps, he had never intended to.

Glancing at the girl with her head bowed on the podium, Ichiro looked coldly at the idiot. "And if you're even worse than her, then what kind of trash does that make you?"

"You..."

"You what? Was Ichiro wrong? You can't even achieve Shikai with your Zanpakuto, yet you spend all day posturing. Aren't you ashamed?"

"..." Hearing Urahara's pointed remark, Ichiro's mouth twitched. However, given the circumstances, he decided to let it slide for now. He would make sure Urahara learned the true meaning of "burning passion" tonight!

"Alright, that's enough. Sugou, get out. If there's a next time, or if I hear any more unpleasant rumors in this school, you can crawl right back to the Rukongai!" The teacher glared at the twisted expression on Sugou's face and said coldly, "Feel free to test whether I have the authority to make that happen!"